[ It's impossible not to blink at the man in front of him, to try and listen to his words and take them on board. It's rare that people are as blunt with him as he is with them, and rarer now that people tiptoe around his loss of a core. The crux of it is, too, that Lan Xichen has said that he cares about him, and that...
That prickles at him.
It's more than he ever expected to have. ]
It's the only way I know.
[ And isn't that true? Hasn't he spent his entire life trying to be good enough for two parents he could never please? Comparing himself to Wei Wuxian and never matching up?
How is he meant to be good enough here if he doesn't try to be whatever Gusu Lan needs? ]
no subject
That prickles at him.
It's more than he ever expected to have. ]
It's the only way I know.
[ And isn't that true? Hasn't he spent his entire life trying to be good enough for two parents he could never please? Comparing himself to Wei Wuxian and never matching up?
How is he meant to be good enough here if he doesn't try to be whatever Gusu Lan needs? ]